(1) There is created in the department of education the connecting Colorado students grant program to award grants to local education providers to increase access to broadband service for students, educators, and other staff who lack stable, reliable internet access for online learning and thereby enable educators and students to teach and learn online. A local education provider that receives a grant shall use the grant money to meet the internet access needs of its students, educators, and other staff, which may include:
(a) Improving internet access for students, educators, and other staff, which may include:
Subscribing for broadband service to provide internet access for students, educators,and other staff;
Providing devices to access the internet;
Purchasing data plans for students, educators, and other staff; and
Increasing the availability of internet access using wireless fidelity, or wi-fi, antennas; mobile hotspots; satellite connections; or other technologies capable of delivering broadband service; and
(b) Addressing broadband infrastructure needs in communities in which broadband service is significantly limited or not available.
(2) To obtain a grant, a local education provider must submit a grant application to the department. Each application must include:
A description of how the local education provider has consulted with educators andother school-level and administrative staff and with broadband service providers in preparing the application;
A description of the programs, including any free resources, that the local educationprovider has previously accessed to provide internet access for students, educators, and other staff;
A description of the broadband service that the local education provider makes available to students, educators, and other staff at the time of application, including the use of free resources;
A description of the internet access needs of students, educators, and other staff thatare necessary to enable effective online teaching and learning and that the local education provider is unable to meet at the time of application;
The local education provider's proposed plan to meet the internet access needs ofstudents, educators, and other staff, including whether the local education provider is seeking to improve internet access as provided in subsection (1)(a) of this section or addressing broadband infrastructure needs as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section and whether the local education provider is partnering or planning to partner with one or more broadband service providers;
The timeline by which the local education provider expects to spend the grant moneyto complete the proposed plan to meet the internet access needs of students, educators, and other staff;
An estimate of the total cost of the broadband service and, if included in the grantapplication, devices to access the internet, including the quantity and cost per unit, that the local education provider requires to provide sufficient internet access for students, educators, and other staff to enable effective online teaching and learning;
The number and overall percentages of students, educators, and other staff in thelocal education provider's community of students, educators, and staff who will receive improved internet access as a result of the proposed use of a grant;
The bandwidth speed of the broadband service and of the internet-access devices, ifany, that will be available to students, educators, and other staff as a result of the grant, including the upload and download speeds and support for why the identified speeds are adequate for online learning for every school-aged child in a household and for educators or other staff to provide online instruction; and
Any additional information required by the department.
(3) The department shall review the applications received pursuant to this section and recommend applicants and grant amounts to the commissioner. Subject to available appropriations, the commissioner shall award the grants and determine the amount of each grant. The department shall consult with the office of information technology created in section 2437.5-103, the Colorado office of economic development created in section 24-48.5-101, broadband service experts, and education technology experts when reviewing applications. The department shall pay the grants from money available in the fund. In reviewing and awarding grants, the department and the commissioner shall consider:
The timeline by which the applying local education provider expects to spend thegrant money and especially whether the grant money is likely to be spent and the local education provider's proposed plan to meet the internet access needs of students, educators, and other staff completed by the end of the 2020-21 school year;
The degree to which an applying local education provider has worked with broadband service providers to take advantage of low- or no-cost options for providing internet access to students, educators, and other staff before seeking a grant;
The manner in which the applying local education provider prioritizes students whoare most at risk of learning loss when educational services are provided through the internet, including students experiencing homelessness, students in foster care, migrant students, students who lack access to broadband service, and highly mobile students;
If the applicant is a school district or a board of cooperative services, the degree towhich the applying local education provider's proposed use of a grant represents a long-term, sustainable improvement in the level of internet access available to all of the schools within the applying school district or within all of the school districts that are members of or purchase services from the applying board of cooperative services; and
The degree to which the applying local education provider has access to other financial resources to use in providing internet access to students, educators, and other staff.
(4) In recommending and awarding grants, the department and the commissioner shall prioritize:
Local education providers that, for the 2019-20 school year, served a student population that included a high percentage of students who were eligible for free or reducedprice meals under the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq.; and
Local education providers that serve a student population that includes a high percentage of students with little or no access to broadband service, as determined using broadband service subscription percentage estimates available from the United States census bureau's American community survey.
(5) By February 1, 2021, the department shall distribute as grants to local education providers the entire amount appropriated to the fund for the 2020-21 budget year, less the amount allowed for expenses.
Source: L. 2020, 1st Ex. Sess.: Entire article added, (HB 20B-1001), ch. 9, p. 45, § 1, effective December 7.